Contentment

Philippians 4:10-23

Contentment

Here we are at the end of our study of the book of Philippians.

It is hard to believe,

but it has only been 2 months,

Just 8 weeks,

A mere 60 days,

But look at all the territory we have covered. We have learned

How to live,

How to make lemonade from lemons,

How to have an attitude adjustment,

How to have confidence in Christ.

And a whole lot more.

Now we come to the final installment,

The last message in this series,

The concluding bible teaching for us.

As Paul winds-up the letter he tells us what is most important for us to remember.

Paul, in this final section, tells us how to live contented lives. We all want to live contented lives. But as John MacArthur points out, “People are not content with either little or much. In fact, it seems that those who are the wealthiest are often the most miserable and discontented. Instead, people are obsessed with delineating their needs and loudly demanding that they be met. Need has become the number one value in our culture.

Paul will give us four secrets to contentment.

The first secret is:

Live Generously

Look with me at Philippians 4:10

10 I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

To understand this text you need to understand that the church of Philippi was very concerned about the Apostle Paul. We learn that they had come to his aid before.

This church had drug deep,

Not once

Not twice

But at least three times.

The gave out of their poverty.

They gave out of their shortage.

They gave out of their scarcity.

I know that it is dangerous for a pastor to mention the word generosity.

People begin to shift in their seats,

Their eyes begin to dart around,

They start sweating.

When a minister says the simple word generosity, all people hear is money.

But there is so much more to generosity,

You can be generous with your time

You can be generous with your talents

And You can be generous with your treasure.

Paul knew the secret of living contently, which begins with living generously.

So what does it mean to live generously.

What causes 17 people in Little Hocking to load up

Cars,

Trucks,

And vans,

To travel across to nation

To drive for 18 hours

To go to the Mississippi coast,

Not to

Put on a swim suit and take a dip in the ocean,

Or to grease up and roast in the sun,

Or to rent a boat and fish for a week,

But instead to

Put on pain splatter tee-shirts,

Ragged jeans,

And sweat stained sweat bands,

And pick up their tools and journey to homes damaged by hurricane Katrine.

Why would they go to work on homes of

People they don’t know,

People they have never met,

And people they may never meet again?

We do it so that

The light might break through the dark clouds of their lives,

The voice of God might speak to them,

And they might hear the God’s sweet voice say, “I love you.”

That is living generously.

Why would anyone take the weekend of mother’s day, and give away flowers to people in the community.

Why would they spend their own money,

Set up in the hot sun

And give flowers to complete strangers.

We do it so that

The light might break through the dark clouds of their lives,

The voice of God might speak to them,

And they might hear the God’s sweet voice say, “I love you.”